Second Coalition War
Background After the harsh defeat in the First Coalition War, the members of Etat De l'Or started building a huge floating palace in the east away from the main powers; amassing a massive wealth and living in a time of prosperity. With all this power in his hands Emperor Celoxia turned his sight to the chaos produced by the rebellions in Scotland, and thus he got involved in the War of Scottish Reunification, eventually subduing both the Royalists and Bridgenists, while bringing Albion to his side as his eyes in the East. Etat also defeated its old enemies the Harbingers in a swift war where the leader of the Harbingers was forced into slavery for Etat. Still allied with the Northmen, Etat was in the prime of its power and so they fell victim to their warlust when they decided to attack Forlorn. Forlorn was a kingdom that had established in the northern wastelands and had built a magnificent city; mostly composed of Norwegians the Kingdom was efficient and had the potential to become a decent middle sized power. The Begining The Seige of Forlorn Learning of the great wealth of the northern Kingdom of Forlorn, Etat decided to raid it. When they got there however they found a fierce resistance from the Forlorn warriors and the siege came to a stand-by with Forlorn guarding the gate and Etat in a small dirt fort just ouside the walls, after realizing they had the numbers on their favor Forlorn sallied away to crush Etat, but the "Empereur" was smart enough to sound the retreat and later arrassed the tired rearguard of the returning Forlorn warriors. However a force of allied forces arrived in the field leaded by the Celts who broke the siege and eventually killed all attackers. Major Events The First Siege of Etat de l'Or A Coalition army of 9 soldiers arrived outside Etat's floating fortress and proceeded to construct siege towers to attack it. The initial lone defender of the fortress was soon joined by a further 3 defenders, making the odds slightly greater than 2 to 1 in the attacker's favour. Despite the presence of the fortress, the battle was decided in the waters below it, as both sides took to the waves to engage each other: an Etat sally in an attempt to catch some Coalition soldiers that fell into the water failed when the rest of the Coalition joined their comrades in an epic, if snail-paced, battle in the water. The weight of numbers secured an allied victory. Some Etat fled into the tunnels below the shallow waters, and were slain by Coalition fighters who gave chase. GrnEyedDvl was also slain by Akar in a glorious display of Awesomeness. Northmen join the fray and the coalition grows Seeing their allies loosing a war against superior numbers the northmen decided to get involved, this thought along with a series of diplomatical incidents provoked a considerable growd of the coalition, when Prussia, Ottomans, WolfPack and Belka joined the fray against the Alliance. The Second Siege of Etat de l'Or Following the first defeat of Etat at their home base, the Coalition returned to fight once more some days later. This time the defenders numbered 6 to the attacking 10: 2 Northmen were reinforcing the Etat lines. Despite catastrophic opening moves that saw the death of 5 of the 10 attacking Coalition soldiers during the boarding of Etat's base, the Coalition once more emerged victorious when the Etat/North defenders did not press their advantage, allowing the remnants of the first boarding party to retain their foothold on the fortress and await their respawning allies as they formed a second wave. Once aboard the fortress, the weight of numbers once more proved decisive for the Coalition, who began to win the running engagements that were fought throughout the base; the Etat/North forces unwisely became fragmented and isolated while Coalition forces stuck to larger groups, allowing the Coalition forces to destroy the defenders man by man. Neutral observers noted that the battle was far more an Etat/North defeat than a Coalition victory: while the Coalition did win the day, it was due to gross Etat/North incompetence rather than Coalition skill at arms. Surrender of Coalition Nations Despite the success of the Coalition in the two largest battles of the war, Northman-Etat forces were far more successful than their Coalition counterparts in the large number of skirmishes and raids that occurred on a daily basis. Many Coalition nations had been brought to their knees fairly quickly as a result, and sought peace sooner rather than later. On the 25th of May the mercenary faction MSF disbanded, with their leader, Katsumoto, and his second in command Boris5000 returning to The Brotherhood. On the 26th of May the following factions surrendered: -Celts -Ottomans -Wolfpack -Belka Terms were payment of 10 diamonds to the Alliance. Order Intervention The Order of Dalmaitus, on the 29th of May, received a plea for help from the Kingdom of Prussia, one of the remaining Coalition states, to bring the war to a conclusion. The Order entered into the conflict, at first, as a neutral Third Party attempting to mediate a White Peace for the warring states. The Alliance was favourable to an immediate White Peace, while the Coalition refused the offer. Accounts of what followed in the negotiations are muddled, as it is understood to have fallen into fragmented bickering and brokering, with all cohesion rapidly lost. It ended with the Order joining the war against the Alliance. This caused considerable diplomatic fallout amongst the other nations, both those involved in the war and otherwise. Neutral observers were quick to point out that the Order were attacking the only side in the conflict that had actually agreed to their White Peace proposals, while the Order claiming they had resorted to defending the weaker nations, which prompted accusations of hypocrisy as the Order had recently robbed blind the nation of Forlorn, a Coalition nation. After three battles with the Men of the North the Order decided to abstain from the war so it white peaced the Alliance and ended its alliance with the members of the coalition, however half of the goods stolen from Forlorn were returned as a sign of good will. Brotherhood Intervention The Brotherhood informed the Order of their support on the 30th of May for the Order's position of White Peace for all involved. This was made public on the 31st of May. On the 31st of May Brotherhood forces attacked the Prussian base and attacked the Forlorn base on the 1st of June, whilst the Order withdrew from the Coalition. Prussia left the war on a White Peace, though Prussian and Brotherhood forces never engaged in battle. Forlorn had previously agreed to leave the war on a White Peace shortly after Brotherhood entry to the war, but the Brotherhood was not informed. The garrison of 4 troops was attacked, with 2 being slain and 2 fleeing into the night. One Brother died falling into an open-air lava pit outside the Forlorn base, but escaped the pit and died to flames. His equipment was recovered. Shortly afterwards the White Peace was officially signed, and equipment captured by the Brotherhood was returned to Forlorn as a gesture of good faith.